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Atari Signs Exclusive Publishing Deal With Spark Unlimited

Atari announced today that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with Spark Unlimited for worldwide publishing rights across all media to all future titles developed by the award-winning creative team at Spark Unlimited, the studio behind the recent hit console game Call of Duty: Finest Hour.

In what is anticipated to be a long-term development relationship between the two companies, Atari will seek to foster new ideas and concepts for future forms of entertainment by drawing upon Spark’s long standing relationships and experiences across a broad array of entertainment realms.

The first joint project, currently under development by Spark, is an intellectual property with full multi-media potential, which Atari will look to exploit in film, television and consumer products. Currently in development for the next generation of consoles, the project will be unveiled in greater detail in the spring, with an anticipated launch during the Holiday 2006 season.

“Interactive entertainment extends across a full spectrum of mediums, not as an afterthought, but by strategic design that begins with a comprehensive creative vision,” said Jim Caparro, President and Chief Executive Officer of Atari in making the announcement. “We are focused on working with innovative teams like Spark to launch and cultivate franchises which fully embrace the all-encompassing entertainment experience. With a track record for creating compelling, unique stories and characters, Spark is an ideal collaborative partner.”

Spark’s most recently developed title, the critically acclaimed Call of Duty™: Finest Hour™ was released in November 2004 and ranked #5 among the best-selling titles across all platforms during the month of December according to recently released NPD TRST data. The game recently received a BAFTA award for “Best Audio in a Game” and was nominated in the category of “Best PlayStation® 2 Game of the Year.” It was also named "Best Military Game" at Spike TV's second annual "Video Game Awards” in 2004.

“To date, our goal at Spark has been to create high-quality innovative titles that deliver uniquely realistic and cinematic gaming experiences,” said Craig Allen, Chief Executive Officer of Spark Unlimited. “We are excited about this new partnership with Atari in part because they have a proven track record for publishing hit titles, but also because we share Jim’s and the Company’s vision for creating titles that blend many expressions of media into a dynamic new framework for audiences to experience.”

Spark Unlimited was founded by 27 of the individuals who developed titles in the Medal of Honor™ console and PC series. Members of the Spark team have worked on such best-selling games as Medal of Honor Frontline™, Medal of Honor Allied Assault™, Medal of Honor Underground™ and the original Medal of Honor™.